Chapter 65: Buddhist Monk

"Hall Master, we've captured Yin Pagoda Sect's saint and saintess. Liu Qingsong, the sect's guardian elder, was killed on the spot," a man in black reported.

"Good." Yan Xiaoxiao nodded and slowly walked towards Yin Pagoda Sect's stronghold.

Numerous corpses were already strewn about the residence. After all, the word "mercy" didn't exist in Azure Dragon Hall's dictionary. There were no other survivors besides the two people they captured alive on the Hall Master's orders.

"Polis Witch! You've committed heinous crimes and taken so many lives. You will certainly be punished by the wrath of Heaven!" Yin Pagoda Sect's saint glared at Yan Xiaoxiao as soon as she appeared.

The saint was a youth around the age of either 13 or 14. Because he had been pressed against the ground, his small face had already turned bright red.

Faced with the little saint's condemnation, Yan Xiaoxiao normally would've ignored him and simply ended his life with her sword, but her mood was a bit different today.

"The Yin Pagoda Sect killed several hundred members of my Yan family that day, so I'm avenging my parents now. What's wrong with that?" Her serene eyes fell on the saint as she calmly responded.

The saint couldn't help staring in shock when he heard that. After all, he was still young and had yet to manage any sect affairs. Of course he wouldn't know about Yan Xiaoxiao's background.

The grueling fact that theYin Pagoda Sect had countless enemies and had also slaughtered many families.

For a moment, the saint was at a loss for words, but a voice traveled over slowly from afar, "Amitabha. Benefactor Yan [1], please be merciful."

A ray of golden light suddenly flashed across her eyes. Yan Xiaoxiao only felt a soft force blowing away the longsword she held against the saint's neck.

When she faced the newcomer, she saw a monk in unadorned clothes standing next to the saint and holding a string of prayer beads in his hand. His eyebrows were lowered, but his figure was as majestic as a mountain.

Yan Xiaoxiao snorted coldly. She raised her longsword and extended it right in front of the monk in the blink of an eye.

"Amitabha!" The monk merely chanted one of the Buddha's many names, and a wisp of golden light appeared out of thin air right in front of him. Yan Xiaoxiao's sword was immediately blocked, unable to move a single inch.

"If revenge breeds revenge, will there ever be an end to it? Benefactor, is it worth it to create more sins through murder?" The monk placed his hands together in prayer, his head still slightly lowered. He sighed, "It would be better to let go."

"Monk? Prodigious Realm?" Yan Xiaoxiao had frequent contact with Gu Nan, so she saw through the other party's cultivation with a single glance. Her heart was slightly surprised.

Immortal Demon World also contained Buddhist sects, but Buddhism had always been in decline there. The Quanyin Temple, the leader of all the Buddhist sects, was the only one of the five righteous sects that didn't have a Prodigious Realm cultivator holding up the fort.

But right now, a Prodigious Realm Buddhist arhat had personally appeared in front of Yan Xiaoxiao.

Yan Xiaoxiao was no longer ignorant about the world. She could easily recognize the appearances of both the righteous and demonic paths' top figures, but she had no impression of the monk in front of her at all.

"Who are you?"

"This humble monk's name is Jing Nan."

Yan Xiaoxiao's frown deepened. She had never heard of this name before. 'And actually, Quanyin Temple doesn't even have a generation of monks whose names start with "Jing..."'

Did this Prodigious Realm master crawl out of a rock?

No matter what the other party's origin was, Yan Xiaoxiao knew that her path of revenge would probably be stuck at this last step—the strength of a Prodigious Realm cultivator wasn't something that the current self could fight.

...

"A Prodigious Realm great monk?" At Azure Dragon Hall's headquarters, Gu Nan was also surprised when he heard Yan Xiaoxiao's report.

Buddhist experts were truly rare. Let alone in the Immortal Demon world, he didn't even see much of them in Star Realm. These great monks who particularly valued withdrawing from worldly affairs wouldn't appear so easily.

'But for a Prodigious Realm monk to suddenly appear in the Immortal Demon World, where Buddhism has always been weak…'

Gu Nan narrowed his eyes slightly. "Did you keep an eye on their whereabouts?"

Yan Xiaoxiao nodded. "He's taking two children with him, so he can only use the official path. It's easy to follow them."

"Good, notify those in Radiant Tower of this news."

"Yes." Yan Xiaoxiao quickly accepted the orders and left. In fact, the only Radiant Tower member she could contact was Tang Xuan.

Ever since Gu Nan revealed that his strength was at the Prodigious Realm, the people from Radiant Tower began trying to contact him. Tang Xuan naturally became the person in charge.

Gu Nan also needed Radiant Tower's help in order to find the right opportunity to hunt Prodigious Realm experts, so the two sides hit it off immediately.

Three of the demonic path's Prodigious Realm experts who fell during this period had died in Gu Nan's hands, giving him a wave of Evil Value and points.

Some issued more points and others gave less, but the amount of Evil Value was fixed—every Prodigious Realm expert gave three.

So Gu Nan now owns a total of 350 points, and his Evil Value has already reached 60.

After Yan Xiaoxiao informed Radiant Tower, Gu Nan no longer paid any attention to the matter. That monk wasn't part of the demonic path. Killing him wouldn't offer any reward, so of course he didn't care.

As for that saint and saintess, he wasn't in a hurry to kill them.

In any case, they wouldn't disappear. That monk would only be able to protect them for a while at most. When the war ends, it shouldn't be a problem to deal with them.

But Gu Nan didn't expect to receive Tang Xuan's reply in a little under two days.

The content of the letter distinctively invited him to deal with the monk named Jing Nan.

...

Three days later, Gu Nan reached Luo City, the capital of Jin Country. Tang Xuan and two other high-ranking Radiant Tower officials were already waiting there.

The two senior executives were a man and a woman. The former being Yue Chenxing, who had praised Gu Nan at the beginning, while the latter's name was Ye Zhiyu. She came from Ruby Fish Star's headquarters and was one of the highest-ranking members in this mission.

"Tang Xuan, it's already time. That Gu Nan still hasn't arrived yet?" Ye Zhiyu asked impatiently with a slight frown.

"Maybe something happened on the road. Why don't we wait some more?" Tang Xuan replied expressionlessly.

"Hmph! He easily escaped from Wen Changfeng back when he was merely in the Innate Realm. What can possibly delay him?" Ye Zhiyu gave a light snort. "I think he's simply looking down on us!"

Tang Xuan raised an eyebrow and was about to speak, but Yue Chenxing hurriedly came up to smooth things over and finally appeased them after much difficulty.

Yue Chenxing also felt a little helpless. Right now, Radiant Tower's attitude towards Gu Nan could basically be divided into two factions.

Both sides agreed on borrowing Gu Nan's help to complete the mission. One side wants to make friends and try to win Gu Nan over as much as possible, while the other side wants to subdue and integrate him first into Radiant Tower's system for a unified management.

Not much was needed to be said about the first view, but the latter view was also pretty reasonable.

Gu Nan had been known as a genius ever since his debut, but he himself was too disagreeable and unreasonable to be affiliated with an organization. This kind of person was a double-edged sword; if they didn't use it well, they would hurt themselves instead. Thus, they'd need to grind it well before using it.

Ye Zhiyu belonged to the latter group. She was born in a family of military officers in Star Realm and hated unscrupulous people like Gu Nan the most, so it was no wonder she spoke rudely of him.

After pacifying her, Yue Chenxing then tried to persuade her, "Zhiyu, we can say those things in private. But when Gu Nan arrives, you should..."

"What?" Ye Zhiyu interrupted coldly, "Don't tell me he would dare to make enemies of my Radiant Tower? He's nothing more than a cultivator who recently advanced to the Prodigious Realm! Do you really believe that someone can actually step into the 'Infinitesimal Stage' as soon as he advances to Prodigious Realm?"

Yue Chenxing smiled bitterly. "That's true, but..."

"There's no 'but.'" Ye Zhiyu waved her hand, "I'm the main commander of this operation. If Gu Nan doesn't obey..."

Ye Zhiyu hadn't even finished speaking right when a light breeze blew past the three of them. A muffled sound blew out, and Ye Zhiyu was sent flying!

Devotee's Game System Inspired Note

» This section of the chapter is a Fan based created system to mock-up or simulate the 'Status Information' of our MC - Gu Nan. This implies that you are free to skip reading this and continue your journey onto the next chapter.

» All catalog data below is a summary of various information achieved by Gu Nan that corresponds till the end of the related chapter and is compiled into a singular 'Status Screen.' Additionally, the invented system below would continue to evolve as we progress and learn more about the novel itself.

MC's Status Information

Name: Gu Nan

Current Location: Somewhere at the Ruby Fish Star

Current Soul Location: Luo City at the capital of Jin Country, Immortal Demon World

Status: ⟪ Evil God ⟫

Advancement Direction: Agility Type

Current Evil God Rank: Tier 3

Equivalent/Current Martial Art: Prodigious Realm

◈ Comprehension of Innate ability: Infinitesimal Stage

Chosen Core Skill: The Law of Shadow

Current Evil God Temple Quest:

→ Main Mission Objective/s:

-— Eliminate the six demonic factions. - External Source

◈ Status: On Going

-— Evil Event: Bai Luoluo's Blackening. - Evil God Temple Issued

◈ Status: On Going

→ Side Quest Objective:

-— Kill the six demonic factions Innate Realm and above cultivators. - External Source

◈ Status: On Going

Current Evil Points: 350

Overall Evil Points: 2625, Overall Evil Value: 60

Core Skill Acquired

— Shadow. ｢Also known precisely as 'The law of Shadow' - its one of the highest-ranked laws in the game. Skill 'Power of Shadows' LVL +1｣

Normal Skills Acquired:

— Locked ｢N/A｣

— Locked ｢N/A｣

— Locked ｢N/A｣

Exclusive Skills Acquired:

— Deceitful Steps. [ Passive Ability ] ｢Movement Speed increased by 30%. Attack Speed increased by 50%｣

— Power of Shadows. [ LVL 2 ] ｢Allows the players to activate the skill "Hidden Shadows" at LVL 1 and unlocks the skill "Shadow Form" at LVL 2..｣

▸Hidden Shadows. ｢The power to manipulate shadows to a fine degree.｣

▸Shadow Form. ｢An incomparable handy skill that allows the player to manipulate shadows to create things, like weapons and armor. At the highest level of mastery, it could even create a humanoid clone.｣

Equipment being worn

→ Armor

-— Dawn Sage's Robe. ｢Basic level defense. If you are not attacked within 3 seconds, you will receive the "Praise of Dawn" effect.｣

→ Weapon

-— Four Element Crossbow. ｢A Tier 2 crossbow weapon that can generate four types of elemental arrows—earth, water, wind, and fire—based on the user's needs and does not need to load arrows.｣

→ Accessories - Facial Accessories, Necklace, Earrings

-— Observer Eyepiece. ｢An eyepiece that have a fixed Tier 2 magic 'Insight' inscribe in it.｣

-— Dragon Heart Pendant. ｢Allows players to activate the skill "Dragon Power". This skill cannot be upgraded｣

-— Shadow Earrings. ｢Skill 'Power of Shadows' LVL +1｣

Equipment Skills Acquired:

-— Insight. [ Passive Ability ] ｢Ability to obtain high-precision data analysis when looking at people or objects.｣

-— Dragon Power. ｢Greatly enhances the player's strength and physique. Duration: 5 seconds. Cooldown: 5 minutes｣

-— Praise of Dawn. [ Passive Ability ] ｢Increases self-healing ability by 300%｣

Item/s owned:

→ None.